Means for elevating grain



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. ROMWEBER.

MEANS FOR ELEVATING GRAIN.

No. 368,242. Patented Aug. 16, 1887.

4! M 1 M M M WITNESSES INVE TOR M M RTTORNEY (No Model.) 7 3Sheets-Sheet 2.

' G. ROMWEBER.

MEANS FOR ELEVATING GRAIN. No. 368,242. Patented Aug. 16, 1887 FIG.2.

WITNESSES w 2 My ATTORNEY vmmsmnwum r pw. Wuhinghan. n. c v

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3.

G. ROMWEBER;

MEANS FOR BLEVATING GRAIN. 7

No. 368,242. Patented Aug. 16, 1887.

w I TNEssEs N PETERS, PhMo-Lilhcgrzpher, Wnhmglan. D. C.

G USI ROMW'EBER, OF MINNE APOLIS, MINNESOTA.

MEANS FOR ELEVATING GRAIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,242, dated August16, 1887.

Application filed NOXOIllbGI 20, 18596. Serial No. 219,521. (No model.)

To all whom it ntmy concern.-

Be itknown that I, GUsT Rorrwnnnu, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of llIin neapolis, county of Hennepin, State of Min nesota,have invented a new and useful Means for Elevating Grain, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention has for its object to elevate wheat and other small grainswith the utmost rapidity and the greatest economy. It is designed moreespecially to elevate wheat directly from the car on the track anddeliver it into the bins of the elevator, without regard to the heightof the same above the ground.

By my invention 1 take the wheat directly from the car and deliveritintothe bins at any elevation-evcn if two hundred feet above the ground byatmospheric action, and I unload the largest cars in from two to threeminutes.

In my invention I make use of the principle that a current of air willcarry wheat or other small grain with it to an indefiniteheight,provided atmospheric pressure be removed from above. In otherwords, air rushing in to fill (or rather to prevent) a vacuum will carrygrain with it to an indefinite height. In applying thispriuciple Iplacetwo strong doubleacting pumps with quadruple valves at some convenientpointin the elevator above the bins to be filled and drive the same froma crankshaft, to which motion is imparted from the elevator-enginethrough suitable shafting, or in any other suitable way. There are twovalves in each end of the pump-cylinders. These are connected bycontinuous short tubes to the upper end of a long elevator-pipe,whichextends downward to the level of the ear-door, and by a flexibleelbow-extension which lies with its open mouth directly over orpartially embedded in the wheat near the center of the car. The pumpsare also provided with two large outlet-valvesone at each end just belowthelower line of thepiston-from each of which extend chutes to thevarious bins to be filled. The pumps having been started, their suckingaction will tend to exhaust all the air out of the tubes and produce avacuum; but the tube having an open mouth below over the wheat theironly efi'ect will be to cause a tremendous current of air to rush intothe mouth of the tube from all parts of the car, carrying the wheat withit the entire length of the tube and delivering it through theoutlet-valves of the pump-cyligders. By the action of the pumpsatmospheric pressure is removed from above, and a vacuum would beproduced did not the air and wheat from below rush in to prevent thesame. As the pumps are double-acting pumps, driven from a commoncrank-shalt with cranks at right angles to each other and withinlet-valves at both ends of the cylinders, the process is a continuousone. The air and wheat ascend the tube continuously with great rapidity,and the car is unloaded in less time than it takes to describe theprocess.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my preferred construction.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout.

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing my apparatus in position for use.Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section of the pump-cylinder and pistonand a side elevation of the eranle shaft and pitman. Fig. 3 is a planView of the two pumps-such as is shown in Fig. 2-and the means ofdriving the same. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the two pump-cylinderswith the head removed from one cylinder.

A is a frame or support, of any suitable kind, for firmly holding thepump-cylinders, cross-head guides, and crank-shaft. B B are thecrank-disks. bis the common crank-shaft. O is a belt from a pulley on acrank-shaft to a general driving-shaft, I). E e and E0 are pitmen andcross-heads. F Farc the piston-rods, andf is the piston-head in thecylinder G, and there is a similar pistouhead (not shown) in G. f "arethe stuffing-boxes. G G are the pump-cylinders. 9 are inlet-valves inthe same, of which there are two pairsone pair at each endall openinginwardly. g g are outlet-valves from the cylinders. H is the main pipeleading to the car L, and h h are tubes from the inlet-valves g to thetop of pipe H. K K are the chutes from the outletvalves 9 to the variousbins M.

The valves 9 open inward and the valves 9 open outward. Then thepiston-heads are moving away from the crank-shaft, air and wheat pourinto the cylinders behind the piston. 7 when moving toward thecrank-shaft, the air and wheat pour into the cylinders in front of thepiston. \Vhen moving toward the crankshaft, the air and wheat pour intothe cylinders in front of the piston-heads, and the wheat and air behindthe cylinders are forced out through the valves g on the ends toward thecrank-shaft. On the neXt forward thrust the air and wheat in front areforced out through valves 9 into the chutes at the front end of thecylinders.

From the fact that the cranks are at right angles to each other, one orthe other pump will always be exhausting the air from the pipe H. Whenonepiston isstanding on one of the dead-centers at the end of a stroke,the other piston will be moving. In this way theexhaust is made perfectand continuous. For

7 elevating. short distances one pump driven at a high rate of speed maybe sufficient.

I have described and shown my process as applied in elevating grain fromagar; but it will be readily understood, of course, that it is equallywell adapted for elevating grain from the floor of the elevator or mill,or from any receptacle containing the same at a level below the top ofthe elevator-pipe; or it may be used to carry grain long distances onsubstantially the same level, as from one elevator to another, or froman elevator to a mill.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates in this application, is as follows: I

In combination, for elevating grain, a pair of air-pumps driven fromcranks set at right 0 angles to each other on a common shaft, eachpumpcylinder being provided with a pair of inlet-valves at each end andan outlet-valve at each end .below the level of the thrust- In presenceof- EMMA F. ELMoRn, J AS. F. WILLIAMsON.

